Such wrist bands are well known and normally consist of a thermal, laser or inkjet printable plastic strap which is fastened to the patients' wrists detailing the person's ID and treatments.
The plastic strap is strong enough to survive several weeks of wear and tear on patients' wrists and normally is only replaced after a surgical intervention or other procedure that changes the patient's data.
It has been found, however, that the standard wrist bands are not suitable for infants and babies. The edges of the plastic can rub and cut the baby's skin leading to unnecessary medical complications.
A solution is known from US2006/0218837 A1 (J M Riley). It involves using a band of Velcro™ which can be looped around the infant's wrist and joined with a printable label attached to the outside of the Velcro band. The label has two slots by means of which it can be attached to the tongue which has the hook part of the Velcro on its inside. There is however, a problem with such Velcro strips. By definition, they are easily removable and the printable label can easily be removed from the Velcro band.
Since babies and infants are normally not in a position to offer explanations to staff, wrist band switches are not easily spotted and can lead to mistaken identities with all the consequences of such a mix up. What is more, the “Riley” solution is vulnerable to malicious interference which can go undetected for considerable time. A further factor speaking against the Velcro (Riley) solution is cost.